Chapter 68

My nose crinkled. I could smell it—a male scent, not a familiar one, but one I’d encountered a few times before. Sniffing deeper, it became clearer, and then it hit me. It was his scent. What was his name again? Yes, Xavier. But why the hell did he have a gun pointed at my head?

Because he was the damned stalker. It still didn’t make sense. Why would he want Violet dead? Blinking furiously, I pushed away the whirlwind of thoughts threatening to overwhelm me.

“Stay still!” His voice thundered from behind me, reverberating in my ears. “Raise your hands slowly above your head, and don’t bring them down.”

I hesitated but followed his command, feeling the cold metal of the gun now pressing into my neck. The urge to ram my elbow into his gut, to make him drop the gun, was strong, but I couldn’t risk it. I had to get to Violet first.

“Keep them up, and move!” he growled. I heard a click, and a bright light shone behind me—he’d brought a torch. How thoughtful.

The boards creaked beneath our f